Peace Offering
by Karmadevi
Summary: [Night Stalker 2005]  Kolchak finds a way to get past Perri's trust thing.


A/N: This is a missing scene for the episode "Into The Night".

A/N 2: If anyone knows why this episode seems like it belongs at the beginning of the season instead of the end, please e-mail me. It's driving me nuts. Any help in keeping what little sanity I have left would be greatly appreciated.

Disclaimer: Not mine. I am way too big of a chicken to come up with anything this creepy. But I'm borrowing the characters, anyway.

* * *

**_Peace Offering _**

"What am I supposed to do with these now?" Alex called after Perri as she walked away.

She didn't react and the door swung shut behind her, leaving Alex staring at a snickering Kolchak.

Alex shot him a glare. "Something funny?"

Kolchak just smiled and shook his head. "Just that I could've told you that's how that was going to go. I can take those tickets off your hands now," he offered.

Alex narrowed his eyes. "These are supposed to be my payment for services rendered. You taking them back?

Kolchak shook his head, still looking amused. "No. Have fun at the ballet. But _she_," he indicated the door Perri had just left through, "is never going to go out with you."

That stung.

"You don't know that," Alex shot back, defensive. "She just doesn't know me, yet, that's all."

Kolchak smirked and nodded condescendingly. "Tell you what," he offered. "You give me those tickets and I'll owe you. Floor seats at the Suns/Laker game."

Alex eyed him suspiciously. "_Floor _seats? Or that 'floor-adjacent' crap you pulled last time?"

Kolchak smiled. "You have my word," he promised.

Alex studied him for a moment and then, satisfied with his sincerity, handed over the tickets.

"What're you going to do with them, anyway?" he asked.

Kolchak shrugged and turned toward the door.

"I've got another friend who might be able to use them."

-----

"What took you so long?" Perri demanded as soon as Kolchak met her at his car.

He just smiled, unlocked the door, and climbed into the driver's seat.

Perri huffed and yanked open the passenger door to follow.

"Well?" she prompted once she was inside, turning to pin him with an impatient stare while reaching awkwardly behind her for the seatbelt.

He smirked, already buckled in, and handed her the ballet tickets.

Her eyes widened and she snatched them from him excitedly.

"You have another pair?"

"Nope." He turned the key in the ignition and barely waited for the engine to turn over before whipping out of the parking spot.

Perri didn't bat an eye at his driving, but her face fell at his answer.

"Alex is giving them to me?" she asked doubtfully.

The corners of Kolchak's mouth lifted. "_I'm_ giving them to you."

Perri cocked her head suspiciously. "But I thought they were your bribe for his help today?"

"I don't like the word 'bribe'. Let's call it a trade," Carl suggested.

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Okay. I thought you were _trading_ him these tickets?"

He shrugged. "I decided to trade him something else. I figured you'd get more use out of these."

Despite his casual attitude, the thoughtfulness of the gesture didn't escape Perri's notice and she stared at Kolchak's profile for a moment, speechless.

At last, she recovered her voice. "Thank you, Carl," she said softly.

"You're welcome, Perri," he returned, with the usual trace of mocking in his tone.

She rolled her eyes, annoyed with herself for falling for the brief moment of sincerity, and turned her gaze out the window to where the city streets flashed by at dizzying speeds.

After a moment, Carl broke the silence.

"So, who are you going to take?" he asked.

She glanced down at the tickets still in her hand and couldn't help smiling at the reminder that they were hers. She'd dreamt of watching the Bolshoi perform since she was a little girl; she couldn't stay annoyed with him when he'd just made that dream come true.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I didn't think I'd get my hands on any tickets."

"And now you have," he pointed out with a smile.

"Mmmm," she agreed absently. "Do you like the ballet?" she asked, curious.

He smirked at her. "Careful, Perri. That almost sounded like an invitation. I might start thinking you actually like me."

She rolled her eyes again, feeling her generous mood vanish as suddenly as it had appeared.

"Can't have that," she agreed sarcastically and turned away from him again, putting an end to the conversation.

Again, it was Carl who broke the silence that fell between them.

"Yeah," he finally admitted, his voice a little rough. "Irene liked to go. I think she really just liked having an excuse to get dressed up and make me turn off my cell phone," he confided with a soft smile. "But… I liked it. The stories. Just… watching them move. It was beautiful. People are never really that graceful, you know?"

"Yeah," she said softly, staring in wonder at the man sitting beside her.

This wasn't the Carl Kolchak she'd come to know. This was the man he'd been before, before he'd had his life shattered, before anger and obsessions took over his life. She felt honored to have this fleeting glimpse of that man.

After a moment, she slipped one of the tickets into the cup holder between them. At his questioning look, she shrugged.

"They're your tickets. I only need one."

Carl smiled and they both turned their gazes back to the road. This time, when silence blanketed the cab of the Mustang, it was comfortable and calming.

And neither of them felt the need to break it.

-----

Half an hour later, at the morgue, Kolchak's final words finally clicked in Alex's head, and he realized what Kolchak had planned for those tickets. 

_His_ tickets.

"Aww… _Man_!"

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End file.
